Staying Home, Books, and Free Time | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management
2021.04.13
During my time staying at home, I wanted to tidy up my home and my university office, but I've made almost no progress. In fact, my rooms are getting messier and messier as I buy more books and pile up incoming documents without reading them. The staff in the dean's secretarial office are laughing at the books piled up in the dean's office.
One day, I found a photo of Keith Richards's library online (you can find it by searching for "Keith Richards library"). Keith, of course, is the guitarist for the Rolling Stones. It's delightful to see a photo of a favorite rock guitarist surrounded by books instead of guitars. It has a great atmosphere that fits his image perfectly.
Looking into it further, I found that the photo came from a book published in 1995 called At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries . I bought a used copy, and looking through it, I found it was full of photos of various people's prized libraries. They were probably tidied up for the photo book, but they are all libraries to be admired. The books are neatly arranged on bookshelves, not piled on the floor.
I hardly drink alcohol, and I don't have anything I would call a hobby. If I had to name a hobby, it would be collecting and reading books (and occasionally writing them myself), which is also part of my job.
That said, for the past few years, I've started to worry whether I'll be able to read all the books I've piled up before I die. Even in an age where we live to be 100, I've definitely passed the halfway mark. In an era overflowing with books, university libraries won't take them when I retire unless they are exceptionally rare. If all the books from my university office were suddenly delivered to my home, it would be nothing but a nuisance for my family. After reading "Will Books Make the Floor Collapse?" by Yasushi Nishimuta (Chuko Bunko) , I've been agonizing over the fact that I'll have to sort them out eventually.
It was then that I came across the book "The Power of Giving Up" (President Inc.) by Dai Tamesue, who kindly joined us online for a kick-off lecture for new students . The word "akirameru" (to give up) is not a negative term. He says it means "to clarify and fully understand one's own talents, abilities, and circumstances, and to realize who you are at this very moment."
He also adds, "In my case, getting rid of things has become more of a ritual than a habit. It's an opportunity to confirm, 'What is truly important?' If I do nothing and let things be, I accumulate all sorts of things without realizing it. That's why I believe I must perform a regular 'misogi' (purification ritual)." I see...
I had heard that being a dean involves a lot of waiting time. I was secretly hoping that I would surely be able to read a lot of books during that time. I thought that while opportunities for overseas business trips would decrease, it would be fine as long as I could read books, and I planned to discard them after reading. However, in reality, there is no waiting time at all. Because of COVID-19, I have to constantly think about and decide on one thing after another. There are many situations where simply following precedent is not enough.
In the waiting room for the graduation ceremony, held in person for the first time in two years, I asked a dean from another faculty who has served many terms, "Are you busier before or after COVID-19?" "Now, of course," he replied. "I probably have to make two or three times as many decisions. I feel like a dictator." Since my time as a "normal" dean was only for the first four months or so, I didn't really understand, but it seems there is indeed a lot to do now. However, at the Faculty of Policy Management, the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, and the Graduate School of Media and Governance, there is no dictatorship because we have a joint governance system of two faculties and one graduate school. We are constantly holding numerous meetings and discussions.
And now, the new semester has begun. I am certain that I will reach the summer break without having tidied up anything again.
To all the graduating students, I imagine you have already started your new lives. Congratulations on your graduation. To the new students, welcome! To the new second-year students, you also had a tough year. The COVID-19 situation is still unpredictable. Please take care and enjoy your studies.